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For two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Lucy鈥檚 Pizza was the only restaurant open in the central mountain town of Adjuntas. The town鈥檚 18,000 residents, like those on the rest of the island, were entirely without electricity. 

鈥淣o one has power, you can鈥檛 get gas, it鈥檚 difficult to make food, so everyone came here to eat,鈥� says owner Gustavo Irizarry. 鈥淭he line,鈥� he gestures down the block along the town鈥檚 central plaza, 鈥渆ndless.鈥�

Using a diesel generator, Lucy鈥檚 was running at about 75% capacity. The generator was loud, smelly, and expensive to run鈥擨rizarry spent $15,000 on diesel in the six months the grid was down. He was often up in the middle of the night to restart the generator because of the risk of losing power to the refrigerators. He didn鈥檛 want ingredients to spoil.

Now, nearly six years later, Irizarry is poised to generate his own energy from the sun. He鈥檚 one of 14 merchants in downtown Adjuntas who have invested in the island鈥檚 first community-owned solar microgrids鈥攅xpected to go live before this summer. 

鈥淎fter Maria, we saw the vulnerability and the necessity to have an electric system that truly works,鈥� Irizarry says. 鈥淭o have better, alternative power, to be able to live.鈥�

The microgrid project is the latest effort in a to build energy security in Puerto Rico in the form of solar power. Across the island, groups like , which first opened in Adjuntas more than 40 years ago, have relied on deep roots in the community to create local buy-in and make it an equitable transition.

鈥淭he microgrid is a major step in taking Puerto Rico from the vulnerability of the centralized fossil fuel system to the aspiration that I think we share in Puerto Rico,鈥� says Arturo Massol-Dey谩, associate director of Casa Pueblo. 鈥淭o use [renewable] fuels and generate power at the point of consumption, where it鈥檚 needed.鈥�

power small networks of buildings with energy that鈥檚 generated close to where it鈥檚 used, often wind or solar. The systems are typically connected to a central grid, but in the case of an outage they can run on 鈥渋sland mode,鈥� relying solely on locally generated power and battery storage capacity. 

Hurricane Maria of Puerto Rico鈥檚 power grid, and the subsequent outages, which lasted for months, contributed to the storm鈥檚 . Six years and in federal commitments later, Puerto Rico鈥檚 central grid is still in disrepair. 

Puerto Ricans suffer while spending, on average, on electricity, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. (The average American spends 2.4% on electricity.)

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an opportunity to move away from the centralized system,鈥� says Massol-Dey谩. 鈥淚n Puerto Rico, it鈥檚 a necessity.鈥� 

Puerto Rico鈥檚 energy problems predate Maria. The island鈥檚 utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), had filed for bankruptcy in March 2017, nearly six months before Maria. In 2020, officials signed a 15-year contract giving LUMA Energy, a consortium of Canadian and United States companies, control over the transmission and distribution of electricity. Since LUMA took over, rates increased and . (LUMA did not respond to requests for comment.)

Renewable energy advocates, including the movement (We Want Sun), say the solution is obvious. Rooftop solar alone could provide the island鈥檚 residential energy demand, Department of Energy studies have shown. In 2019, Puerto Rican lawmakers of transitioning to 40% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% by 2050. But despite those commitments, the island currently sources less than 4% from renewables. In recent years, PREPA has advanced and even proposed on energy generated by rooftop solar to help pay its $9 million debt. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 the worst thing that could happen to Puerto Rico,鈥� says Massol-Dey谩 of a potential solar tax. (PREPA did not respond to requests for comment.)

For Massol-Dey谩, the outages following Maria were a tragedy鈥攂ut also a chance to extol the benefits of solar power. In the wake of the disaster, 础诲箩耻苍迟别帽辞蝉 gathered at Casa Pueblo, which had installed its first solar panels in 1999 and had gone off the electric grid entirely just months before Maria. Locals were able to charge phones, run dialysis machines, and store medications in the center鈥檚 refrigerators. One neighbor came daily to administer her son鈥檚 asthma treatment. 

Members of Puerto Rico鈥檚 got in touch with Casa Pueblo to ask how they could help. 鈥淲e told everyone, don鈥檛 send us money鈥攕end us solar lamps,鈥� Massol-Dey谩 says.

Over the next six months, the organization distributed 14,000 lamps. And in the last six years, it has helped fund and install more than 350 solar energy systems on buildings across town, including in an assisted living facility, a grocery store, the local fire station, and many homes in the poorest neighborhoods of Adjuntas. Casa Pueblo even built a , where locals charge phones using outlets that source energy from solar arrays resembling trees. 

In 2018, Salt Lake City鈥揵ased , which supports solar projects around the world, took notice of what was happening in Adjuntas. Then-director Dory Trimble reached out. 鈥淪he told us to think bigger,鈥� says Massol-Dey谩. 鈥淸We thought] why not do downtown Adjuntas, around the main square, which is what gives communities in Puerto Rico a sense of identity?鈥� 

Lucy鈥檚 is in one of seven buildings around Adjuntas鈥� central plaza connected to two half-megawatt battery storage systems that link to the central grid; in the case of an outage, the systems can 鈥渋sland,鈥� relying on their own generation and storage.

By creating a microgrid with other local businesses on the grid, including a bakery, hardware store, and pharmacy, Adjuntas could gain energy security during emergencies, all while starving the fossil fuel industry by unplugging those with the highest energy demands.

But as the microgrid idea was taking shape, Casa Pueblo鈥檚 late co-founder Tinti Dey谩 Diaz (Massol-Dey谩鈥檚 mother) said she wanted to ensure that lower-income residents would continue to benefit from the solar transition鈥攁fter all, households with solar power were paying about $40 less per month on their energy bills, according to Casa Pueblo.

That concern led Irizarry and the 13 other investors in the microgrid to form the Community Solar Energy Association of Adjuntas (ACESA), a nonprofit independent utility that reinvests in community solar projects, prioritizing homes of the most vulnerable 础诲箩耻苍迟别帽辞蝉. 鈥淲e each have a commitment to the community,鈥� says Irizarry. 

Their dedication paid off. When Hurricane Fiona hit in 2022, it caused , but the town鈥檚 solar-powered buildings were spared. The local fire station became a regional response center, intercepting calls from a station in Ponce, 15 miles to the south, which had lost power.

鈥淲hen you see the entire landscape, you know that we are still at risk鈥攚e are going to be confronting the same climate change challenges, hurricanes, earthquakes,鈥� says Massol-Dey谩. 鈥淏ut we are in a better situation for normal days, and we鈥檙e better positioned to confront difficult times as a community.鈥�

Adjuntas鈥� transition has earned it nationwide recognition. In March, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm visited Casa Pueblo to discuss plans to to improve Puerto Rico鈥檚 grid. (The , approved by Congress in December, will focus on the island鈥檚 鈥渕ost vulnerable and disadvantaged households and communities.鈥�) Following her visit, Granholm , 鈥淭hey鈥檙e leading by example, showing that 100% solar power is possible for Puerto Rico.鈥�

Other communities on the island are interested in replicating Adjuntas鈥� model. The is working to develop a solar microgrid in Maricao, 30 miles west of Adjuntas. Last March, director Andrew Hermann visited Adjuntas with Maricao residents.

鈥淪eeing [the microgrid] in person and talking to business owners that are super pro-microgrid鈥攊t鈥檚 really assuring the business owners here,鈥� Hermann says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the type of energy that helps build these projects from the ground up.鈥� 

This article appeared in听听and Next City as part of a that looks at how cities are tackling inequality and the climate crisis.听听is an editorially independent, nonprofit news service covering climate change. Follow听.